The Milwaukee Brewers made a trade Thursday as the winter meetings wound down, picking up Garin Cecchini from the Boston Red sox for cash considerations.
The left-handed hitting Cecchini played third base, outfield and a little first base in Boston's minor-league system. He appeared in 10 games with the Red Sox in 2014-15, playing nine games at third base in 2014 and one at first and one as a designated hitter in 2015.
The Providence Journal's Brian McPherson noted the Red Sox hoped Cecchini's "inside-out lefty swing would translate to a Wade Boggs-esque career at Fenway Park." In 13 games with Boston, Cecchini batted just .229. In 510 career minor-league games he has a .279 batting average, .372 on base-percentage and .402 slugging percentage.
At Pawtucket last season, Cecchini had a slash line of just 213/286/296, but he was also trying to convert to the outfield. In 2014 with the PawSox, he batted 263/341/371.
The Brewers figure to use Cecchini at third base, although he has struggled somewhat with the glove at that position, owning a .925 fielding percentage there in his minor-league career.
Cecchini was drafted in the fourth round of the 2010 draft and was given a hefty $1.3 million signing bonus. He was designated for assignment when Boston signed free-agent pitcher David Price.
The addition of Cecchini and two others in the Rule 5 draft give the Brewers 37 players on their 40-man roster.
